Apocalypse: The Savior with System

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Dinner was a quiet affair. The late afternoon sun pouring in from the wide plexiglass windows to the west did nothing to lift the gloom over the seven occupants of the giant mess hall. Dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, roast beef, and steamed vegetables, the food they were lucky enough to find in the kitchen’s storage. Andie and Judith made the meal as delicious as possible but not even warm, savory food could ease the tension.

The only one who seemed otherwise untroubled was Quinn Vega, who sat alone a table apart, a bottle of wine beside her plate. Paul and Rahu likewise distanced themselves from the remainder who sat with each other in between.

“Should she be drinking alcohol at this time?” Andie whispered worriedly.

Eli shrugged one shoulder. “I heard she owns a vineyard up in Arkansas. The wine’s probably just like water for her.  Maybe that’s why she’s always talking to her grandmother on the phone.”

“Does her grandmother even know what she’s up to?!”

“Most likely, no,” Judith muttered, finishing off her mashed potatoes.

“She’s a MacAllister Family’s filthy rich, I must say,” Eric suddenly said. All eyes turned to him. Even Quinn looked up momentarily and then went back to eating. Eric’s face colored. “Uh, I’ve been doing some research, too…you know…since she’s, uh, not…”

Taking pity on him, Judith patted his arm and said in a low voice, “Thanks for taking the initiative, Eric. She’s new to the group and even if she helped us take the arsenal, we don’t know her true motives. I don’t trust her.” She narrowed her eyes at Eric.

Eric nodded briskly. “Right. It’s better to be cautious.”

His table companions solemnly agreed.

Two tables away, Paul and Rahu were also in discussion.

“I’m not going to lie—I fairly freaked out when I saw you lying on the floor today,” Paul admitted. Rahu grunted, taking a large bite out of his roast beef serving. “Are you sure you’re better now?”

“Never been,” Rahu growled, putting in a large spoonful of mashed potato inside his mouth and swallowing easily. “Stop mothering.”

Paul winced. “I’m not mothering,” he argued. “I’m just worried…” He wanted to say he was worried Rahu wouldn’t be able to defend himself if he was feeling sick and weak but Paul knew those words invited trouble. Rahu had pride in spades.

“We need you, man,” Paul said instead. He glanced down at his forearm. “I know I have the system and maybe I can get rid of our enemies easily with one push of a button or a single thought in my head. But you understand I can’t do that, right? I’m not using this to kill humans. Besides, you, me, and Eric—okay Quinn Vega if she’s up to it—are the only ones here capable of duking it out with others so inclined.”

Rahu turned his head towards Judith’s table, stared for a long while, and then trained his eyes on Paul.

“You’ve decided to make her your mission,” Rahu said decidedly.

Paul felt his ears getting warm. “It’s nothing like that!” When Rahu didn’t seem to be as affected as he was, Paul calmed down and said, “I want answers, too. But the way to get them is through the Doc. If I lose her, I lose those answers. If we lose her, we don’t know if we’ll ever get a cure or the vaccine. I really believe they want her gone and all research along with her.”

“You’re saying this is for the common good.”

He honestly couldn’t tell if Rahu was ribbing him or if he was simply stating a fact.

“I don’t want to be a hero or anything like that but that’s the goal. That’s not too much, right?”

As usual, Rahu grunted in response.

Back at Judith’s table, she said to Andie, “Don’t worry about the dishes. I’ll do the washing. Once everyone’s done, you have to go to the bunker, as we planned.” Andie pursed her lips and nodded. During the meeting Paul convened earlier in the day, they all unanimously decided that Andie, being the least attuned to the use of guns, was going to stay in the bunker come what may. Should the defense fail, she was going to get a signal, which she would follow and get out of the arsenal through a secret and newly-made pathway Rahu and Paul created.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Judith told her kindly. “But you’ve managed to escape the safe zone and survive. You can do it again.”

“But I had other people with me, too,” Andie said in a small voice. Eli laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“We’ll be fine, Ands,” he tried to say with cheer but everyone who heard knew he doubted his own words.

When Paul stood, everyone else except for Quinn followed suit. Andie and Eli began collecting the used plates and utensils. Eric drew Judith to a private area and asked, “Were you able to hide the data?”

She nodded. “I placed everything in the microdrive you gave me and gave it to Andie without her knowing. I’m keeping a copy of one half; I assume you’ve hidden your half well?”

“I have,” he replied. “But I’ve made it so that should either of us die, a special program will be activated so the other could still access both. And if I live and you don’t, yes, I promise, I will find Doctor Allan Sandhurst and hand over your research to him.”

Judith gave him a tight-lipped smile, short-lived when she caught Paul staring at them. The scene did not escape Eric either.

“You’re not sharing with him your contingency plan?” he asked. Judith shook her head. “You’re doing this for him, aren’t you?”

“From a professional, scientific, and ethical standpoint, yes, I am,” she said firmly, not meeting Eric’s eyes. “Call it an attack of guilt or whatever but I do feel a certain amount of regret for my participation in what happened to Paul. I am beginning to believe that the troubles he has been facing since Ormara have something to do with the research I was a part of there.”

Eric nodded in understanding, smiling. “I’ve known Paul for many years and sure, we drifted apart after Pakistan but reunited, I see he has barely changed. Paul’s probably the greatest guy I’ve ever known. He won’t take kindly to you or anyone else feeling responsible for him. Paul has always been of a mind that we hold our fate in our own hands. Everyone else is just an accessory.” Then he stopped smiling and a determined look came over his face. “That doesn’t mean he’s invincible even with that system you put in him. I understand why we need to protect Paul and I agree he needs to be defended, even if he disagrees. But you also have to take care of yourself, Judith. I know we have a contingency plan but I’d rather you’re alive to see this mission through.”

A gust of wind bringing with it the scent of wine and something floral wafted.

The next thing Eric and Judith knew was that they’d been pushed violently to the floor, with glass, mortar, and steel raining down on them.

Someone was screaming. It was Andie.

Eric had Judith under him. Above them, the terrifyingly beautiful face of Quinn Vega grinned down at him, her firm, and shapely body flat against his own.

“R & R’s over, soldier,” she said almost excitedly, jumping off of him and disappearing through the haze of smoke and gunpowder.

“Get Andie out of here!” Paul yelled, waking Eric out from his stupor. He rose to his knees, not waiting for Judith, and crawled to where he found Andie and Eli hiding under one of the undamaged tables. He grabbed Andie, crawling low beneath the smoke and gunfire until they reached the hallway.

Of course, they were met with black-clad armed people who immediately began firing at them. Eric pushed Andie out of the way and returned fire. But their attackers were too many. In the distance, he could hear the sound of helicopters hovering above the arsenal.

Ah. If he could get somewhere hidden for sixty seconds to activate the automated wall defense system, he could have those helicopters gone in a jiffy. But at the moment, he was overpowered.

Shit. No choice.

Eric stepped forward and aimed only to be stunned frozen when five of his attackers fell dead to the floor one by one in quick succession. The afternoon had finally transitioned to evening and all the hallway lights were off. But he could smell that floral and fruity scent again coming from somewhere.

Quinn Vega.

“Do I have to shoot you to make you move? Shooting you or the little mouse won’t make any difference to me.”

Eric smirked. The blasted woman was hidden in the shadows, altering her voice so he wouldn’t know from which direction she was coming from. Smart.

He moved quickly to where he’d pushed Andie and found her crouched down, surprisingly, a gun in her hands. He grabbed her arm and ran with her to the secret passage that led directly to the basements and further to the bunker.

“Can you make your way from here?” he asked, opening the door with complicated code.

Andie nodded jerkily. “I know the way, Eric.”

He looked pointedly at the gun. Andie smiled sheepishly. “Quinn gave it to me.”

Eric’s eyebrows rose. Andie waved goodbye and disappeared down the passage.

Then, he locked the door and used the time to activate the wall defense using a small electronic device.

Eardrum-bursting explosions from outside reached him.

He gave himself a congratulatory pat on the shoulder and ran back up to where the fighting was.

Silly man, he heard from somewhere.

He had no idea if that voice was a product of his imagination or a real one.

The latter, probably.